Hankook Icebear W300 vrs Blizzak LM-60s

I'm considering either the Hankooks ($430 shipped) or the LM-60s ($700 shipped) for snow tires. I'll spend 1 more winter here and then be moving to Syracuse, NY for a year. Not a lot of snow here in Korea, mostly just cold (20's hi/teens low's).

Anyone have any experience with the Icebears?

Thoughts on whether the $270 price difference is worth it?

hey man i have never used either one of them tires for winter i have always had good luck with the dunlop winter sport 3Ds

I don't need snow tires until next year but I found these Hankooks on sale. I think I am going to pass and get the Blizzaks later.

I just don't trust the Hankooks.

I've been running Hankook Icebear W300's for the past three winters here in Chiacago. They have seen a lot of snow in that short time. I have also done a lot of high speed driving (90+ mph) in the cold with complete confidence. Handling on dry surfaces feels great. They're also incredibily quiet.

Here is my review: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=561008&

Thanks for the info. I guess I might take a chance. I've got time so I'll wait for the next promotion. Hopefully I can stack the $100 off/$50 car care one discount/5-10% bing.com discount together.

i just put on LM60s and they are nothing short of spectacular. I had to get pushed out of my street, and even 4wd people are spinning and I am chuggin along now with no lsd on a zhp. highly recommended.

Last year, I was driving from Syracuse to TX on my A/S. It was snowing pretty good near cleveland. I almost got stuck on a hill on the interstate in the middle of nowhere. I just need something that will give me some grip.

This is really only for 2 maybe 3 winters in upstate NY and Kansas City before I am back in TX.

+1 for the Hankook Icebears. I have run these for the past 3 winters with no issues. Unfortunately, these are my first set of dedicated snow tires so I have nothing to compare them with but the past snow storm we had here in NYC, I drove to and from work without any issues or worries of getting stuck.

Running Icebears for the 2nd winter this year on 18x8.5 fronts and 18x9.5 fronts. I've run Pirelli Snowsports and Blizzak LM25s in past winters here in Mass. I have to say my all time favorite snow tires were the Pirelli 210/240 snowsports. Had INCREDIBLE snow grip with 90% of my summer tires grip in the dry. Blizzaks had very good snow grip, and dry cold grip wasn't too bad either.

I feel that the Hankook Icebears offer very good dry grip in the cold, but their grip in the snow is not quite as good as the other two. By NO means would I steer someone away from them, especially for the price. Lets face it...we should be driving carefully in snow anyhow, and they're light years better than an all season tire. I also chose them for the price, but this is due to 2 reasons- I don't do much driving in the snow, and we don't get many blizzards here in MA. If I lived in upstate NY or Maine, I would be running the Pirelli Snowsports for sure. I was lucky to be on these in '04 and '05 when we had 2-3 feet of snow, and I was the only care on the road. SUVs were spinning out and I never lost grip...amazing tire for our E46s, especially considering I was runnning a wide, staggered size!

Originally Posted by ari00

Running Icebears for the 2nd winter this year on 18x8.5 fronts and 18x9.5 fronts. I've run Pirelli Snowsports and Blizzak LM25s in past winters here in Mass. I have to say my all time favorite snow tires were the Pirelli 210/240 snowsports. Had INCREDIBLE snow grip with 90% of my summer tires grip in the dry. Blizzaks had very good snow grip, and dry cold grip wasn't too bad either.

I feel that the Hankook Icebears offer very good dry grip in the cold, but their grip in the snow is not quite as good as the other two. By NO means would I steer someone away from them, especially for the price. Lets face it...we should be driving carefully in snow anyhow, and they're light years better than an all season tire. I also chose them for the price, but this is due to 2 reasons- I don't do much driving in the snow, and we don't get many blizzards here in MA. If I lived in upstate NY or Maine, I would be running the Pirelli Snowsports for sure. I was lucky to be on these in '04 and '05 when we had 2-3 feet of snow, and I was the only care on the road. SUVs were spinning out and I never lost grip...amazing tire for our E46s, especially considering I was runnning a wide, staggered size!

And I think I will go with the Blizzaks or the Michelin Alpins.